NEWPORT, RI – Claiborne Pell, the quirky blueblood who represented blue-collar Rhode Island in the US Senate for 36 years and was the force behind a grant program that has helped tens of millions of Americans attend college, died yesterday after a long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 90.

Pell died at his Newport home, said his former assistant, Jan Demers.

Pell, a Democrat, was first elected to the Senate in 1960. He disclosed he had Parkinson’s in 1995 and left office in January 1997, after his sixth term.

When asked his greatest achievement, he always declared, “Pell Grants.”

He sponsored legislation creating the Basic Educational Opportunity Grants, which passed in 1972 and provided direct aid to college students. The awards were renamed “Pell Grants” in 1980.

By the time Pell retired, they had aided more than 54 million students.